I found a cool page on Stuff tonight that lets you view graphs from each of the five major polls following the 2008 General Election.
People who don’t know me very well and see me only as a business-owner are often surprised to learn that I’m voting Labour.
Why? Because there are more important things in my life than how much tax I pay.
Independent foreign policy that carefully considers the justification for war is more important to me than how much tax I pay. A comprehensive social welfare system that recognises that some members of our society give back in ways other than holding down a steady job is more important to me than how much tax I pay. Acknowledging that same-sex couples deserve the same right as opposite-sex couples to happiness and family is more important to me than how much tax I pay. Protecting the rights of children and promoting a less violent society is more important to me than how much tax I pay.
I’m sure most people would agree that there’s so much more to life than business, money and taxes. My hope come election day is that we each cast our vote for the party we believe offers not only the greatest benefits to ourselves personally, but the greatest benefits to all New Zealanders across all aspects of our individual lives.
Every single time I visit Wellington I come away impressed, and this weekend was no different. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what it is, but here goes…
- The people are friendlier. They really are and this is huge to me.
- The atmosphere is more laid back. People care less about what they wear etc and appear more free to express themselves.
- You can walk everywhere. The tight layout of the city creates a pedestrian culture that encourages people out of their cars and forces people to engage with each other.
- Important decisions are made here. Seeing the Beehive and MPs walking around is just hot.
- Internet people live here. Web people living in Wellington have made a real effort to support each other. Trade Me, Xero, Plan HQ, StarNow, Ponoko etc are all based in Wellington and seem to know each other. In Auckland we get Ferrit (yay!)
I’m sure all of this has been said a thousand times before but it’s really struck me how true it is. Wellington has a buzz about it that, colleagues, friends and family aside, makes it feel like a better place to live than Auckland.
Born in the wrong city!
I was amazed to learn the other day that the nzherald developed their iPhone-compatible site in a single weekend. The team responsible went from sketching some designs on Friday to coding it up on Saturday and Sunday.
To be honest this isn’t something I expected to hear about a publicly listed company like APN. What’s more, the site’s really well thought out too and has totally changed the way I consume my local news (now brought forward 10 minutes to while waiting for my morning coffee at the local cafe as oppose to in front of my desk with the coffee in hand!).
This is a great example of how a small amount of work targeted in the right area can have a really big impact.
Nice job guys.
Update: The clever people behind this project are Nigel Horricks (the one and only!) and Justin Matthews. I’ve met Nigel and he’s one of the lucky ones who really gets the Internet. Inspired choice APN…
Last week I posted about the launch of my friend Simon’s online shopping site Mighty Ape.
One of the key reason my money’s on Mighty Ape going all the way in New Zealand is their same-day shipping service, a carryover from GP Store.
Take for example Richard Branson’s new book Business Stripped Bare. The book was released in New Zealand only yesterday – it looked good so I ordered it…
… and today it arrived. That’s the benefit of holding stock and it sure beats the experience of waiting 2-3 weeks for shipping from overseas or battling the inner-city car parks. Go The Ape!
PS: iPhone cameras suck!
BNZ’s old brand.
BNZ’s new brand.
Fail.
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